When I decided to become a Realtor, one of the first investments I made was in computer hardware and software. I decided that I needed a laptop computer and software.

Today, I don’t need a laptop computer — an iPad, netbook or smart phone is less expensive and lighter and will do the job.

I don’t need to spend much on software because most of it is free and what is now free is better than what I used to pay a small fortune for.

Here are some great free programs and services that I use every day, and most of them have been around for years and have a large user base.

1. Pixlr is a free photo editor that is a browser extension. You can use it to edit photographs right in your browser. I use it in Google’s Chrome browser, but it is also available for the Firefox browser.